“If Brussels says I cannot do it, I do not care, I will do it anyway,” he said.

The new budget would raise spending and push the public deficit target to around 2.4% of the gross domestic product. It would take public debt to around 131 % of GDP.

However, the EU, in the person of Pierre Moscovici, who heads the European Commissions Economic & Finance portfolio, said the proposals would seem to breach the EU’s “collective rules”. Italian President, Sergio Mattarella, also warned that the constitution required a “balanced budget”.

Salvi, however, remains defiant saying Italy has “changed course” and is “betting on growth and the future.”